While I was watching the rain these last few days I took the time to read about a extraordinary sculpturist Marlin Miller.
In fact have one of his smaller works is owned by my friends Duane & Vicki Clark who have turned me on to his story and his work.
Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 forever changed the landscape of South Mississippi. In one day the wind and storm surge destroyed homes and trees that stood for generations.
In the trunks of those dead trees professional wood sculptor Marlin Miller of Fort Walton Beach, Florida saw feathers, fins and beaks.
Miller is a fourth generation artist who grew up on a family farm in Manson, Iowa. He graduated from Hawaii Pacific University with a minor in art and served two overseas tours in the USAF.
The 50-something year-old father of five who now resides in Fort Walton Beach, Florida made a name for himself in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Following the storm, Biloxi Mayor A.J. Holloway and Public Affairs Manager Vincent Creel initiated a project with Mississippi chainsaw artist Dayton Scoggins to sculpt marine animals and figurines from dozens of trees in the median of Beach Boulevard in Biloxi that were killed as a result of the saltwater storm surge 16 months earlier.
Miller saw Scoggins’ initial five sculptures and was inspired to get involved “in reciprocity for the help Biloxi had extended Fort Walton Beach in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan.”
He was originally only going to do two sculptures, but it evolved into a bigger project than he had anticipated.
For four years, he donated his time and talent carving a trail of "Katrina Sculptures along a 40-mile stretch of Mississippi coastline from the trunks of the immense storm-ravaged oak trees. The 40 perched pelicans, soaring eagles, playful dolphins and, yes, occasional marlin, some towering three stories high, have become the number one tourist attraction in the area.
Fifteen are located in Biloxi (which lost 51 residents to Katrina), and now serve both as tourist attractions and poignant reminders that our native animals and marine life are irreplaceable local treasures.
Miller has been featured on the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, The Today Show, CNN and PBS.
His work has been featured in Southern Living Magazine, Coastal Living, Southern Breeze and Woodcarving Illustrated.
On August 29, 2010, the American Profile magazine featured Marlin on the front cover.
Miller exhibits his conventionally-sized wood sculptures at Negrotto’s Gallery in Biloxi, Gulfport Galleria of Fine Art, Caboose Art Gallery in Long Beach, Maritime Museum in the Edgewater Mall, Maggie May’s in Bay St. Louis, and the Gallery in Ocean Springs.
Definitely an extraordinary sculpturist & man that lifted the spirits of generational residents of the Gulf Communities and the whole Country!
An Example Of The Great Spirit Of America...
Nana
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